Light and Thunder
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day one hundred and seventy-eight: Concerned for their future at McKinley, the club makes a musical plea to Figgins.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle, and then a third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eigth cycle. Which MEANS **cycle 9** is here, which MEANS... GLEE IS BACK!! YAY!_

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**"Light and Thunder"  
New Directions**

It was a growing concern for all of them how much their fate as a club was being brought under questioning of late. They knew it was probably to be expected, what with all the twists and turns they'd navigated. Amongst themselves, they knew honestly and truly that they belonged in Glee Club, if nowhere else, and that it was something that they couldn't let die.

The twelve of them, they did their part. Mr. Schuester, and Miss Pillsbury as well, they did their own parts. And then there was Coach Sylvester, who had her own part, though it was to do the opposite of what the rest of them were doing. But for all the work everyone was doing, there was one person who had the power to permanently put a cease to their activities and they couldn't forget that… So in all the plots, the incidents, and the controversies, they had to make Principal Figgins understand they were able to rise above if he just let them carry on and keep the club.

By no means did they seek to point out their faults, but they could certainly show to him how much Glee Club meant to them. Whatever would happen after that, they could always remain secure in the fact that they weren't just sitting there without making their voices heard.

The whole 'campaign' of sorts had started in fairly innocent acts. They would create instances of 'visibility,' which was to say they would position themselves at times with the express purpose of being spotted by the principal as they would practice whatever assignment they presently had on hand. It wasn't anything that required a lot, all they needed was the personal ability to sing out in the open. They would sit out there, in whatever group the assignment called for, and practice…

It got them looks, and comments, and a few of them received their first slushie hits for it, but they continued on the tactic for a couple of weeks, until Coach Sylvester's protests were nearing levels that could end up turning the whole endeavour into the opposite of what they'd intended it to be.

So they were back to where they'd started. If possible, they wanted to be subtle about things, which did complicate the matter. A few voices of 'bribery' were quickly silenced, even if they assured it would be in the cleanest way possible. It wasn't as if they had the money for it anyway…

They turned around in circles for a few days until they came to the conclusion they'd been evading, the same one they'd come to back in the days of their mattress commercial: they were performers, and that was where all of their answers rested.

An opportunity came up at last, as Mr. Schuester told them he had to cancel Thursday's Glee practice because of a faculty assembly. A few furtive looks were thrown around, then promptly stuffed away as Mr. Schuester had turned back to them. The next time he had his back turned, there was a quick toss of whispered words, finger pointing, head shaking, head nodding, and snap, back into place when Mr. Schuester turned again. Before he could speak, Artie raised his hand, asking to go to the bathroom. He was let go, and others watched him leave, like the message in a bottle they crossed their fingers would reach shore and carry back salvation. He was chosen because they knew Mr. Schuester wouldn't dare question whatever amount of time it took him. They weren't telling him a thing until they had Figgins' okay.

They played it cool as they waited, although as anxious as they were to find out how it would go with Figgins it came out more 'distracted' than anything. Will was starting to get curious about what was going on, but finally Artie returned. The rest of the group had their eye on him, waiting for the answer. As soon as Will had turned back to the group, Artie gave them the thumbs up. There was a momentary escape of a squeal from them, which startled and confused Will.

Eventually, they had told him what they wanted to do. He was slightly put off by the initial deception, but he managed to get through it as they started discussing songs. He listened to them, trying to describe what they were going for and getting nowhere. He moved to Brad and whispered something to him before approaching the club.

"So you guys are sure about this," he nodded. They nodded back. "Alright, then," he gave them a look as though to say 'just so we're clear, I'm still not completely over this.' "Step this way," he indicated for them to gather around the piano before indicating for Brad to start playing. Almost instantly they knew – they had their number, they could get started.

The day of the teachers' assembly, the twelve of them got dressed in the respective bathrooms before gathering at the ready, waiting on their time. They'd decided to prepare a fairly uncomplicated kind of performance for this day. It wasn't about the bells and whistles, not this time.

It was Mr. Schuester who introduced them, to his fellow faculty members and, of course, to Principal Figgins… and Sue… They came into position, and they began, Quinn taking the first verse.

_[Q] "Many times I've tried to tell you / Many times I've cried alone / Always I'm surprised how well you / Cut my feelings to the bone"_

Rachel, at her side, gave her a look, almost as though the torch was being passed along.

_[R] "Don't want to leave you really / I've invested too much time / To give you up that easy / To the doubts that complicate your mind"_

_[ALL] "We Belong to the light / We Belong to the thunder / We Belong to the sound of the words / We've both fallen under / Whatever we deny or embrace / For worse or for better / We Belong, We Belong / We Belong together"_

At this point, the whole group joined in, all of them a single unified front, facing their teachers, coaches, counsellor, principal… Despite the small bit of business at hand, they were still all performing, and that had its way of drawing their attention. The next two parts were taken by Tina, then Mercedes, before they returned to the chorus.

_[T] "Maybe it's a sign of weakness / When I don't know what to say / Maybe I just wouldn't know / What to do with my strength anyway"_

_[Me] "Has this become a habit / Do I distort the facts / Now there's no looking forward / And there's no turning back / When you say"_

_[ALL] "We Belong to the light / We Belong to the thunder / We Belong to the sound of the words / We've both fallen under / Whatever we deny or embrace / For worse or for better / We Belong, We Belong / We Belong together"_

The last two solos, as with the rest, went to the girls, the last two. Santana went first, smiling to her friend, who went next, before they all closed out the song.

_[S] "Close your eyes and try to sleep now / Close your eyes and try to dream / Clear your mind and do your best / To try and wash the palette clean"_

_[B] "We can't begin to know it / How much we really care / I hear your voice inside me / I see your face everywhere / Still you say"_

_[ALL] "We Belong to the light / We Belong to the thunder / We Belong to the sound of the words / We've both fallen under / Whatever we deny or embrace / For worse or for better / We Belong, We Belong / We Belong together_

_Oh they say / We Belong to the light / We Belong to the thunder / We Belong to the sound of the words / We've both fallen under / Whatever we deny or embrace / For worse or for better / We Belong, We Belong / We Belong together"_

The assembly applauded them. For their part, they checked Mr. Schuester – he was smiling – and Principal Figgins. He was slightly harder to read, but he did seem to be smiling. If all they'd gotten was appreciation, it was already a lot. It would have been worse without it.

THE END


End file.
